Quentin Tarantino’s Manson Family Film Looks For New Home, Leonardo DiCaprio In Talks

It’s practically impossible to separate Quentin Tarantino’s career from Harvey Weinstein, with the filmmaker’s professional relationship with the former studio mogul spanning 25 years. Since Reservoir Dogs, almost all of Tarantino’s films have been under the Miramax and Weinstein Company umbrella, so in the wake of the numerous sexual assault allegations against Weinstein – behavior Tarantino admitted he “knew enough [about] to do more than [he] did” – what does the future of Tarantino’s career look like sans the disgraced studio executive? That remains to be seen, but now the filmmaker has finished his latest script and is currently shopping the project to multiple studios since parting ways with TWC.

The untitled film, nicknamed #9 as it’s Tarantino’s ninth feature, is a drama set in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s and reportedly set around the Manson Family murders. A new piece at Deadline reveals that while Tarantino initially planned to develop the project at TWC, he’s now looking for a new home and sent the script to every major studio except Disney – the Mouse House exclusion is unsurprising considering Tarantino’s violent, R-rated sensibilities. The trade also notes that the project may not revolve around Charles Manson as much as previous reports have indicated, likening it’s attention on the cult leader more to Inglorious Basterds‘ minimal focus on Adolf Hitler. It sounds like Tarantino’s film will be more about the culture around the Manson murders and less directly about the crazed mass murderer himself, which is promising. But there’s more exciting news – a Django Unchained reunion may be underway.

Leonardo DiCaprio’s name has popped up among the many actors said to be in talks with Tarantino for the project. There’s nothing more beyond that or who he may play, but hey, one can dream about seeing the Oscar winner in ‘60s garb – and after Calvin Candie, I could totally get behind a DiCaprio Manson. Other previously reported actors in talks include Margot Robbie, rumored to play the late Sharon Tate, Brad Pitt, rumored to be in conversation for a detective role, and Samuel L. Jackson, of course. Jennifer Lawrence‘s name also popped up in previous rumored reports, but the Deadline item doesn’t mention her. But then again, it’s all still early in the process. A deal is expected within the next few weeks, so stay tuned to learn where the Tarantino project will land.